Richards 'so excited' for Cobblers' future after a 'whirlwind' six months

Cobblers' former title-winning skipper Marc Richards admits it has been a 'whirlwind' six months or so after stepping up to work with the first-team.

The 38-year-old, who made 210 appearances across two spells with Northampton, was only appointed youth team assistant coach last September but in February he was brought into the first-team to work alongside Ian Sampson and caretaker boss Jon Brady.

The club confirmed Brady's appointment as permanent manager last weekend and it was also confirmed that Richards will remain in a first-team coaching role.

"It's been a bit of a whirlwind for me," admitted Richards. "I came into the club only last summer as an U18s assistant and to go from that role to being involved with the first-team in six months is getting chucked into the deep end!

"But maybe I needed that in a way because I'm a little bit of an over-thinker and sometimes I'm not too sure and I might question myself and my ability as a coach. I'm still relatively wet behind the ears at the moment.

"But having said that, I've worked with Jon for the past season and we've also worked together previously and I've taken so much out of it. To be this side of the white line, with a person like Jon, in a club like this, just really excites me.

"I can see the enthusiasm and the intentions the club have with the new training ground and the new facilities that are being set up at the moment, it's a great place to be, certainly for myself as a coach. It excites me a lot."

Richards' role will have a particular focus on developing young players, and having worked with various age groups in the academy, he knows first-hand the talent that's coming through the youth ranks.

"I've worked with a number of age groups over the last few years and I can see exactly what the coaches are doing, what the players are like and even the characters of some of the players," Richards added.

"I'm really excited by what's coming through and the club as a whole, in terms of youth development, is in a good place and the young players are in good hands with the coaches we have here.

"I'm so excited to see what players come through."